Latin in Everyday Life

It’s the language most well known in classical literature and various documents still studied today. People have been known to speak it, but it’s primarily a dead language. Many have tried to revive it.

Some have even taken steps to ensure its safety for longer. Such acts can be found in ATMs near the Vatican with Latin as one of the possible languages to which a person could choose from.

Other such steps can be seen in the enthusiasm of learning the language through private or school use, with most schools offering Latin courses.

Another step is “News in Latin,” a weekly review of the world news in Classical Latin. According to the yle radio website, this is the only one of its kind.

Is there a difference between Classical Latin and Latin?

Latin is broken up into two different types. The first, Classical Latin, that many can see in old texts or documents. Classical Latin was referred to as the “good” Latin, and evidently used primarily by the richer families.

The second, Vulgar Latin, was used in everyday life, especially by the lower class society. Vulgar Latin, unlike Classical Latin, evolved and survived by branching out into what are known as the romance languages.

As with all languages, Latin has evolved and continues to do so. To say Latin is truly a dead language isn’t so. It’s as if someone said Old English is dead, since current English is drastically different. Old English could even be described as a different language, yet this is not so. Only Classical Latin may be dead, and even still, so much life revolves around it.